AREA AND COST OF THE PURCHASE. This purchase cost the United States $7,200,000, and added to the national and public domain an area of 577,390 square miles, as estimated, or 369,529,600 acres― -all lying in Alaska, and subject to disposition and control by the Congress of the United States, excepting certain grants made by the Russian Government. The land laws of the United States have not as yet been extended over Alaska, and although public domain, it is not yet open to settlement under United States land laws, because the lands have not yet been opened for settlement or surveyed by order of Congress (which is the first step after the Indian title is extinguished), and after this, Congress, by law, directs how, when, and by what system the lands may be disposed of. AUTHORITIES. See "Treaties and Conventions," July 4, 1776, to July 21, 1871; also, H. Ex. Doc. No. 125, second session Fortieth Congress; Message from the President of the United States in relation to the transfer of territory from Russia to the United States. 10 L O-VOL III CHAPTER V. THE ORDINANCE OF 1787.-NORTHWEST AND SOUTHWESTERN TERRITORIES. GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES NORTHWEST OF THE RIVER OHIO. CLAIM OF VIRGINIA AND NEW YORK TO THE LANDS THEREIN. The entire territory east of the Mississippi River, north of the Ohio River, and west of the State of Pennsylvania, which had, prior to the Revolutionary War, been subject to the jurisdiction of the Province of Quebec, was claimed by the State of Virginia at and prior to March 1, 1784, the date of her first cession to the confederated government. She was in possession of the French settlements of Vincennes and Illinois, which she had occupied and defended during the Revolutionary War. The first charter of Virginia (James I., April 10, 1606) extended along the sea-coast from the thirty-fourth degree to the forty-first degree of north latitude, but only fifty miles inland. By the second charter for Virginia (James I., May 23, 1609) the limits of the colony were extended so as to embrace "the whole sea-coast, north and south, within two hundred miles of old Point Comfort, extending from sea to sea west and northwest, and also all the islands within one hundred miles along the coast of both seas of the precinct aforesaid," evidently meaning the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The third charter, dated March 12, 1612, annexed to Virginia all the islands within 300 leagues of the coast. Those three charters were vacated by quo warranto before the 15th of July, 1624, on which day a commission issued for the government of Virginia, without making, however, any alteration in the boundaries established by the second charter. The colony was afterwards curtailed on the north by the grants to Lord Baltimore and to William Penn, and on the south by that to the proprietors of Carolina. CLAIM OF NEW YORK CEDED. New York, prior to the cession by Virginia, having conveyed to the United States, March 1, 1781, her claims to this territory, being titles derived from treaties and purchases from the Six Nations of Indians, the Congress of the Confederation passed the resolution for the government of the western territory, April 23, 1784. This left Connecticut and Massachusetts the only States that had or laid any claims to the territory north of the river Ohio and west of Pennsylvania. The cessions of those States to the United States, and the further confirmatory cession by Virginia in 1788, gave to the United States an indisputable title to the public lands within that territory as far west as the river Mississippi, which, by the treaty of Paris between George III. of Great Britain and the King of Spain, February 10, 1763, had been established as the boundary between the British possessions in America and the province of Louisiana. ACTION OF THE CONGRESS OF THE CONFEDERATION ON THE NEW YORK AND VIRGINIA CESSIONS, 1784. The territory ceded by Virginia to the United States, March 1, 1784, became the subject of legislation on the part of the Congress of the Confederation, beginning on the day of cession. On the 1st of March, 1784, a committee, consisting of Mr. Jefferson, of Virginia, Mr. Chase, of Maryland, and Mr. Howell, of Rhode Island, submitted to Congress the following plan for the temporary government of the Western Territory: The committee appointed to prepare a plan for the temporary government of the Western Territory have agreed to the following resolutions: Resolved, That the Territory ceded or to be ceded by individual States to the United States, whensoever the same shall have been purchased of the Indian inhabitants and offered for sale by the United States, shall be formed into additional States, bounded in the following manner, as nearly as such cessions will admit; that is to say northwardly and southwardly by parallels of latitude, so that each State shall comprehend, from south to north, two degrees of latitude, beginning to count from the completion of thirty-one degrees north of the equator; but any territory northwardly of the 47th degree shall make part of the State next below. And eastwardly and westwardly they shall be bounded, those on the Mississippi, by that river on one side and the meridian of the lowest point of the rapids of the Ohio on the other; and those adjoining on the east, by the same meridian on their western side, and on their eastern by the meridian of the western cape of the mouth of the Great Kanawha. And the territory eastward of this last meridian, between the Ohio, Lake Erie and Pennsylvania, shall be one State. That the settlers within the territory so to be purchased and offered for sale, shall, either on their own petition, or the order of Congress, receive authority from them, with appointments of time and place, for their free males, of full age, to meet together, for the purpose of establishing a temporary government, to adopt the constitution and laws of any one of these States, so that such laws nevertheless shall be subject to alteration by their ordinary legislature, and to erect, subject to a like alteration, counties or townships for the election of members for their legislature. That such temporary government shall only continue in force in any State until it shall have acquired 20,000 free inhabitants, when, giving due proof thereof to Congress, they shall receive from them authority, with appointments of time and place, to call a convention of representatives to establish a permanent constitution and government for themselves. Provided, That both the temporary and permanent government be established on these principles as their basis: 1. That they shall forever remain a part of the United States of America. 2. That in their persons, property, and territory they shall be subject to the Government of the United States in Congress assembled, and to the Articles of Confederation in all those cases in which the original States shall be so subject. 3. That they shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted, to be apportioned on them by Congress according to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on other States. 4. That their respective governments shall be in republican forms, and shall admit no person to be a citizen who holds any hereditary title. 5. That after the year 1800 of the Christian era there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said States otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted to have been personally guilty. That whensoever any of the said States shall have of free inhabitants as many as shall then be in any one of the least numerous of the thirteen original States, such State shall be admitted by its delegates into the Congress of the United States on an equal footing with the said original States, after which the assent of two-thirds of the United States, in Congress assembled, shall be requisite in all those cases wherein, by the confederation, the assent of nine States is now required; provided the consent of nine States to such admission may be obtained according to the 11th of the Articles of Confederation. Until such admission by their delegates into Congress any of the said States, after the establishment of their temporary government, shall have authority to keep a sitting member in Congress, with a right of debating, but not voting. That the territory northward of the 45th degree, that is to say, of the completion of 45 degrees from the equator, and extending to the Lake of the Woods, shall be called Sylvania; that of the territory under the 45th and 44th degrees, that which lies westward of Lake Michigan shall be called Michigania; and that which is eastward thereof within the peninsula formed by the lakes and waters of Michigan, Huron, St. Clair and Erie shall be called Cherronesus, and shall include any part of the peninsula which may extend above the 45th degree. Of the territory under the 43d and 45th degrees, that to the westward, through which the Assenippi or Rock River runs, shall be called Assenisipia; and that to the eastward, in which are the fountains of the Muskingum, the two Miamies of Ohio, the Wabashi, the Illinois, the Miami of the Lake, and the Sandusky rivers, shall be called Metropotamia. Of the territory which lies under the 39th and 38th degrees, to which shall be added so much of the point of land within the fork of the Ohio and Mississippi as lies under the 37th degree, that to the westward within and adjacent to which are the confluences of the rivers Wabash, Shawnee, Tamsee, Ohio, Illinois, Mississippi, and Missouri shall be called Polypotamia; and that to the eastward farther up the Ohio, shall be called Polisipia. This report was recommitted to the same committee on the 17th of March and a new one was submitted on the 22d of the same month. The second report agreed in substance with the first. The principal difference was the omission of the paragraph giving names to the States to be formed out of the Western Territory. It was taken up for consideration by Congress on the 19th of April, on which day, on the motion of Mr. Spaight, of North Carolina, the following clause was stricken out of the report: That after the year 1800 of the Christian era there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said States, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted to have been personally guilty. On the adoption of this proviso Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina voted "no." Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, and Pennsylvania voted "aye." North Carolina was divided. Georgia, Delaware, and New Jersey were absent. Failing to receive a majority (seven) of the States for its retention, it failed. The report was further considered and amended on the 20th and 21st. On the 23d it was agreed to (ten States voting "aye" and one "no"), without the clause prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude after the year 1800. On the question to agree to the report, after the prohibitory clause was struck out, the yeas and nays were required by Mr. Beresford. The vote was: Ayes-New Hampshire, Mr. Foster, Mr. Blanchard; Massachusetts, Mr. Gerry, Mr. Nays-South Carolina, Mr. Read, Mr. Beresford. RESOLUTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE WESTERN TERRITORY, PASSED APRIL 23, 1784. Resolved, That so much of the territory ceded or to be ceded by individual States to the United States, as is already purchased or shall be purchased of the Indian inhabitants, and offered for sale by Congress, shall be divided into distinct States in the following manner, as nearly as such cessions will admit; that is to say, by parallels of latitude, so that each State shall comprehend from north to south two degrees of latitude, beginning to count from the completion of forty-five degrees north of the equator; and by meridians of longitude, one of which shall pass through the lowest point of the rapids of Ohio, and the other through the western cape of the mouth of the Great Kauhaway; but the territory eastward of this last meridian, between the Ohio, Lake Erie, and Pennsylvania, shall be one State, whatsoever may be its comprehension of latitude. That which may lie beyond the completion of the 45th degree, between the said meridians, shall make part of the State adjoining it on the south; and that part of the Ohio, which is between the same meridians, coinciding nearly with the parallel of 39 degrees, shall be substituted so far in lieu of that parallel as a boundary line. That the settlers on any territory so purchased and offered for sale, shall, either on their own petition or on the order of Congress, receive authority from them, with appointments of time and place, for their free males of full age, within the limits of their State, to meet together, for the purpose of establishing a temporary government, to adopt the constitution and laws of any one of the original States; so that such laws, nevertheless, shall be subject to alteration by their ordinary legislature; and to erect, subject to a like alteration, counties, townships, or other divisions, for the election of members for their legislature. That when any such State shall have acquired twenty thousand free inhabitants, on 7 giving due proof thereof to Congress, they shall receive from them authority, with appointments of time and place, to call a convention of representatives to establish a permanent constitution and government for themselves: Provided, That both the temporary and permanent governments be established on these principles as their basis: 1. That they shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America. 2. That they shall be subject to the Articles of Confederation in all those cases in which the original States shall be so subject, and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled, conformable thereto. 3. That they, in no case, shall interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with the ordinances and regulations which Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. 4. That they shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted, or to be contracted, to be apportioned on them by Congress, according to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other States. 5. That no tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States. 6. That their respective governments shall be republican. 7. That the lands of non-resident proprietors shall, in no case, be taxed higher than those of residents within any new State, before the admission thereof to a vote by its delegates in Congress. That whensoever any of the said States shall have, of free inhabitants, as many as shall then be in any one the least numerous of the thirteen original States, such State shall be admitted by its delegates into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the said original States; provided the consent of so many States in Congress is first obtained as may, at the time, be competent to such admission. And in order to adapt the said Articles of Confederation to the state of Congress when its numbers shall be thus increased, it shall be proposed to the legislatures of the States, originally parties thereto, to require the assent of two-thirds of the United States in Congress assembled, in all those cases wherein, by the said articles, the assent of nine States is now required, which, being agreed to by them, shall be binding on the new States. Until such admission by their delegates into Congress, any of the said States, after the establishment of their temporary government, shall have authority to keep a member in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting. That measures, not inconsistent with the principles of the confederation, and necessary for the preservation of peace and good order among the settlers in any of the said new States, until they shall assume a temporary government as aforesaid, may, from time to time, be taken by the United States in Congress assembled. That the preceding articles shall be formed into a charter of compact; shall be duly executed by the President of the United States in Congress assembled, under his hand, and the seal of the United States; shall be promulgated; and shall stand as fundamental constitutions between the thirteen original States, and each of the several States now newly described, unalterable from and after the sale of any part of the territory of such State, pursuant to this resolve, but by the joint consent of the United States in Congress assembled, and of the particular State within which such alteration is proposed to be made. Thus the substance of the report of Mr. Jefferson of a plan for the government of the Western Territory (without restrictions as to slavery) became a law, and remained so during 1784 to 1787, when these resolutions were repealed in terms by the passage of the ordinance for the government of the "Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio." PRELIMINARY ACTION ON THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. In Congress, March 16, 1785, a motion was made by Mr. King, seconded by Mr. Ellery, that the following proposition be committed: That there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the States described in the resolve of Congress of the 23d of April, 1784, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been personally guilty; and that this regulation shall be an article of compact, and remain a fundamental principle of the Constitution between the thirteen original States, and each of the States described in the said resolve of the 23d of April, 1784. The motion was, "that the following proposition be committed"--that is, committed to a committee of the whole House. It was a separate, independent proposition. The terms of it show that it was offered as an addition to the resolve of April 23, 1784, with the intention of restoring to that resolve a clause that had originally formed part of it. |